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Turning Japanese

1.
Young people: Manga
Turning Japanese
MATTHEW IMRIE introduces the manga
phenomenon, offering suggestions for
collection development and management,
events and running a manga group.
T
he first thing you realise when you pick up a manga book
is that these are not your usual comics. When people
delve deeper into this phenomenon they realise that there is
more to it than spiky-haired ninja kids and large-eyed, nubile
women with no inhibitions (although there is a part of the
market dedicated to such stereotypes).
Librarians are well-placed to help change public
perceptions of manga, but perhaps we need to change our
own views as well by finding out more about this art form and
talking to the readers, who are often teens. This can also help
to challenge the stereotypical perception of librarians as being
only interested in pushing ‘proper’ books, as well as helping us
to find out more about our often marginalised library patrons
by discovering first-hand what they read and enjoy.
A brief history of manga
As most people now know, manga was created and developed
in Japan; its history dates back to 1814 when the Japanese
artist Hokusai first used the word to describe his books of
‘whimsical sketches’. Nowadays manga is a Japanese word
for comics, but that’s putting it too simply. The Japanese comic
style is highly distinctive in the way its characters and stories
are portrayed.
Osamu Tezuka is known as the father of modern manga
and is credited with inventing manga as it is known today.
Influenced by Walt Disney’s style of animation (Bambi eyes
being the most noticeable), he developed the storytelling style
and imagery that helped make manga popular across cultural
and geographic boundaries. Tezuka’s creations include Astro
Boy, Black Jack and Kimba the White Lion (which was one of
the inspirations for Disney’s The Lion King).
In Japan manga is mass-produced and is distributed in
weekly or fortnightly telephone-directory-sized publications.
These publications contain a number of different storylines –
much like 2000AD’s weekly magazine, although on a more
massive scale. The stories are then collected into books
(known as tankobon in the manga industry). It is in this
tankobon format that manga is best known in the UK. The
books are usually published to be read from right to left as
they are in Japan, only the language is translated into English.
Early manga titles were reformatted to be read from left to
right in Europe and America, but this was abandoned because
publishers wanted to give readers as authentic a manga
experience as possible.
The first major manga publisher in the UK (and still one of
the largest) is Tokyopop. It has since been joined by Viz Media
(in partnership with Simon & Schuster), Tanoshimi (an imprint
of Random House) and more recently Self Made Hero Press,
publishing the popular Manga Shakespeare line. Walker
Books is planning to release a range of manga titles and there
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PUBLIC LIBRARY JOURNAL
Spring 09
are also a number of independent publishers including
Sweatdrop Studios, Umisen-Yamasen and Dimensional
Manga.
Manga in libraries
In recent years manga collections in libraries have been
growing, due in part to librarians realising the popularity of
manga and readers requesting titles. In many cases borrowers
have a greater knowledge of manga than librarians and this
can lead to titles being ordered and purchased that are
inappropriate for the collections into which they are placed.
Starting a manga collection in a library can be a nervewracking decision to make, especially if you don’t know much
about what is available. Before purchasing vast quantities of
manga it may be a good idea to start up with a seed collection
of 20 to 50 titles; this will enable you to ascertain the level of
popularity that manga has in the community the library serves.
Initial collection development and display
Initial selection can be based on what is currently popular on
television: many popular manga titles have been adapted into
anime (Japanese animated series and movies) and it is in this
format that many young people have their first encounter with
Japanese popular culture. Popular manga series like Naruto
and Bleach are but two examples of this. The card game YuGi-Oh is also based on a manga series. For younger readers
the Pokémon manga series is also incredibly popular. Neo
magazine focuses on aspects of Asian popular culture
available in the UK, and also includes up-to-date lists of the
most popular new manga and anime. There is some manga
available through library suppliers (Peters in Birmingham has
a limited selection); however, I have found that they do not
cater fully to the needs of the borrowers. It will probably be
necessary to approach an outside source – there are a
number of specialist comic shops across the UK that offer
special deals to libraries including discounts and stock
servicing. Specialist suppliers include Gosh Comics in London
and Forbidden Planet, which has recently started offering a
library provision service.
Once you have identified the more voracious readers, you
should then be able to approach them in order to gather more
information on the titles which they themselves would like to
see on the shelves. Gaining community input on what titles
they enjoy and would like to read is a good way of building a
collection that is relevant to their needs and will engender a
sense of ownership amongst the readers. Once you have
opened up a dialogue with the readers it may also be possible
to entice them into forming the nucleus of a manga discussion
group. It is important to realise that while manga is incredibly
popular it is by no means universal, and it is possible,
although unlikely, that manga will not find a foothold in the
community that uses the library. Conversely, you may find that
manga readers will flock to the library, and while the manga
collection will generate strong issue figures you must make
sure that the library collection as a whole does not become
unbalanced. I have found that manga readers are the most

2.
Manga itself is not a genre; rather it is a
type of graphic literature that contains
many sub-sets, some of which are
mentioned below:
Shonen
A Japanese word used in English to refer to
anime and manga primarily intended for boys.
Shojo
A term used in English to refer to manga and
anime aimed at a young, female audience.
Seinen
A subset of manga that is generally targeted
at an 18 – 30-year-old male audience.
Kodomo
A Japanese word that means child.
However, to many non-Japanese readers of
manga and anime, the word refers to a
specific genre intended primarily for children.
Josei
A genre of manga or anime created mostly
by women, for late teenage and adult
female audiences.
Moé
Anime or manga featuring characters that
are extremely perky or cute.
Top: Library Assistant Jenny Price (second
from right) and former Teen Librarian Liz
Chapman (left) with manga group members
at a library cosplay event; Above: The
author (centre) with Library Assistant
Jenny Price (right) and a fellow Librarian at
the Edmonton Green Tokyopop ReCon;
Right: Manga group member dressed as
Naruto at a library-based cosplay event
likely to make requests for new and continuing titles on a regular
basis, which can quickly eat into the budget.
Initially shelving titles in a face-forward display will maximise
stock exposure; this will last until the collection grows large
enough to require more shelf space. It is however a good idea to
keep one shelf for face-on display to show off new stock. It is
important to remember that as manga is published in the
Japanese style and is thus designed to be read from right to left,
it is very easy to put books on display with the back cover facing
forward. Adding to the confusion are western manga titles which
are usually published to be read from left to right, as are Korean
manwha titles.
The first rule of purchasing manga is always start the
collection with volume one, and it should be made clear to the
borrowers that this is how the library will operate. I have come
across a number of teens who will ask for, say, volume 12 in a
series, having read the previous volumes either in bookshops or
online. If not nipped in the bud, this could lead to the library
holding the middle volumes of some series and not being able to
purchase the original volumes as they are out of print.
Manga and censorship
Most manga publishers adhere to a voluntary age-banding
system for their books, but these ages are guidelines only, are
not legally binding, are routinely ignored by most readers and are
Yaoi (also known as Shonen-ai)*
Manga or anime focusing on gay male
relationships aimed at a (primarily) female
audience.
*The terms ‘Yaoi’ and ‘Shonen-ai’ are
sometimes used by western audiences to
differentiate between tales that contain
(sometimes graphic) sex scenes (Yaoi)
and stories that focus primarily on
romance (Shonen-ai).
Yuri
Manga focusing on lesbian relationships.
These are (unsurprisingly perhaps) usually
aimed at an adolescent male audience.
usually overlooked by parents and librarians alike.
Nonetheless, since they are there, it is a good idea to at least
consider them due to the sometimes graphic depictions
contained within their covers. I suggest clearly labelling manga
titles for teen or adult collections; this is a good way of
keeping the collection out of the children’s library. This is
recommended for two reasons: first, it will cover libraries if
parents complain about their children being allowed to borrow
what they may consider to be inappropriate materials; and
second, until the library staff becomes acclimatised to manga,
it limits the risk of more mature manga titles being misshelved. Keeping the teen- and adult-appropriate collections
together is usually a good idea as, initially at least, manga
collections can be rather small and easily lost on a library’s
shelves.
While it is a good idea to pay attention to the age-banding
when making shelving decisions, I do not believe that children
should be refused access to manga and graphic novels. There
are a few exceptions to this, namely extreme graphic violence
Continued on page 4
PUBLIC LIBRARY JOURNAL
Spring 09
3

3.
Continued from page 3
and sexual situations. Due to the negative image
which manga still has in some sectors of the library
community (both users and staff), it may be
necessary to educate one’s colleagues, particularly
with regard to the viewpoint that it is not our job to
tell borrowers what they can and cannot take out.
While staff may sometimes wish to tactfully enquire
if borrowers are sure that their chosen books are
appropriate, I believe that teenagers should be
able to decide which books they would like to read
and it is not up to us to police their reading
materials. I have encountered one situation where
a stroppy teen sought to outrage her parents by
flaunting yaoi in front of them, but that (fortunately)
did not impact on the library. The only time I had a
query over the appropriateness of yaoi was when
my manager got a shock as he picked up a new
yaoi book and flipped through it; I explained that all
yaoi titles were marked as adult fiction as a matter of course
and that was the end of the issue.
‘Why yaoi?’ is one of the most commonly asked questions I
get when discussing manga with staff and the public. Yaoi is
most widely read by girls and women ranging in age from their
mid-teens to late 20s and early 30s. Studies suggest that yaoi
is popular due largely to the romantic element and that malemale relationships are seen as less threatening (Brenner,
2008; Ho, 2007). Popularity aside (yaoi is one of the fastestgrowing sub-genres in my library’s manga collection), it can
also help people come to terms with either their own sexuality
or that of people around them. Refusing to stock such titles
just because you personally do not like what they depict is
censorship pure and simple.
In Britain, manga is shaking off its image of being a form that
appeals only to geeks and weirdos, as well as the accusation that
it lacks literary merit. From the history of the atomic bomb on
Hiroshima and its aftermath in Barefoot Gen, to Shakespeare’s
works being rendered in this style for use in schools, the
educational potential of manga is slowly being realised.
Pitfalls
Manga collections for all their crowd-pulling potential are not
without their pitfalls. The positive aspects of manga far
outweigh the negatives, but it is important to be aware of
potential difficulties beforehand so as to be prepared.
G Series length is important to keep in mind. Manga is by nature
episodic; mangaka (authors) often start their manga with the
hope of becoming popular and keeping the story going for as
long as possible. Naruto is presently one of the most popular
manga titles in the world and currently stands at 44 books in
the series, with only 33 available in English so far.
G Theft is, fortunately, not too common in my library but it does
happen. I have lost most of the Naruto books twice over the past
year. Many of the Bleach books have also gone and while it is
possible to replace stolen titles, once you lose two sets of one
series it gets difficult to justify replacing them again. The manga
books are security tagged as are most of the books in the library,
but it is fairly easy to identify the tags and rip them out.
G Checking the books to make sure they are correctly labelled
as adult or teen before they are put onto the shelf is important,
as while many adult-oriented books are clearly marked by the
publishers there are some that look just like every other
manga book. A quick flip-through of the book is usually
sufficient to determine what type of book it is. Depending on
the size of the collection, this can be fairly time-consuming and
does require some knowledge of manga.
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PUBLIC LIBRARY JOURNAL
Spring 09
Above: Prizewinners at the Edmonton Green
Tokyopop ReCon; Right: Manga group members at a
drawing event with mangaka Chie Kutsuwada
Often some of the more knowledgeable borrowers place
holds for books that are new in Japanese and have not yet
been licensed in English. While not a pitfall per se, it can lead
to unhappy teens demanding to know why the library can’t
obtain the books in English.
Beyond reading: art, anime and cosplay
Manga fans often have an interest in art and are interested in
creating their own manga illustrations and comic strips.
Running manga groups can be a good way of nurturing their
creativity by providing a forum where like-minded individuals
can gather to discuss their interests and work on their art
together. A good way of encouraging the use of the non-fiction
section is to increase the number of books on how to draw
manga as well as books that focus on the creation of anime
and the artists themselves. In addition to this, a growing
number of mangaka are willing to run drawing and portfolio
discussion workshops in libraries. Manga collectives such as
Sweatdrop Studios and Umisen-Yamasen are two examples of
groups that have organised workshops around the country.
As previously mentioned, there are a number of manga
titles that have spawned anime series (and vice versa). Anime
is the term used for Japanese animated series and movies
and like manga it is easily identifiable due to the art style. One
of the most famous anime production studios is Studio Ghibli,
best-known for the award-winning film Spirited Away and the
adaptation of Diana Wynne-Jones’ novel Howl’s Moving
Castle. Studio Ghibli’s latest film Ponyo on the Cliff, based in
part on The Little Mermaid, will be released over the summer
in the UK. Like the previous Studio Ghibli movie Tales from
Earthsea, this film will have a mainstream cinema release.
MVM and Manga Entertainment both offer permission for
libraries to show non-theatrical screenings of their licensed
anime.
Cosplay is a portmanteau of the English words ‘costume’
and ‘roleplay’. It is also a Japanese subculture centred on
dressing as characters from manga, anime, video games,
tokusatsu (a type of Japanese film or TV drama which features
a lot of special effects) and, less commonly, Japanese liveaction television shows, fantasy movies, or Japanese pop
music bands. However, in some circles, ‘cosplay’ has been
expanded to mean simply wearing a costume. One of the
more popular fashion styles is Gothic & Lolita – a style based
on English Victorian children’s clothing composed of knee-

4.
Low-cost event ideas
length skirt or dress, headdress, blouse, petticoat, knee-length
socks or stockings and rocking horse or high heel / platform
shoes. The colour scheme is largely black and white, hence
the Gothic appellation. This style has its own magazine – The
Gothic & Lolita Bible, published in English by Tokyopop. It is
important to note that Lolita as used in this context has nothing
to do with the fetishisation of young girls. Another offshoot of
the manga collection is the increasing number of requests,
particularly from teenage girls (and one or two of the more
adventurous boys), for books on the styles derived from
Harajuku street fashion.
In a wider sense, there is an increasing appreciation of, and
interest in, Japan and Japanese culture. Authors like Haruki
Murakami and Banana Yoshimoto are becoming more
mainstream. Current cultural obsessions being embraced by
my manga group include the tea ceremony, the art of wearing
the kimono and sushi making.
Manga links
Organising manga-based events in libraries need not be
expensive, apart from inviting artists or costume creators to run
workshops. Holding an art competition can involve little more than
providing paper and pencils or art pens. All you need to do is set
a theme – the most popular competition I ran was challenging the
artists in the group to draw a manga representation of me! To
keep the entire group involved, those that did not draw were
called upon to choose the winning picture.
Organising cosplay competitions has also proven to be
popular, with some of my regular group attendees coming in
costume each month. Manga- and anime-based quizzes can
also increase your knowledge of the various titles that are
available and encourage friendly rivalry in the group.
Prizes need not be lavish: Japanese confectionary is fairly
easily obtainable and is always popular. Pocky, a biscuit stick
dipped in chocolate or yoghurt, is the most sought-after snack!
White Rabbit sweets were also popular but it is not advisable to
use them at present due to the melamine milk scare in China.
Occasionally publishers provide freebies to promote their titles;
these can also be used as prizes. It is often a good idea to forge
links with UK-based publishers and ask if they are able to send
preview copies of their books to discuss with your group. Lastly,
just discussing the titles the group members enjoy, and providing
pencils and paper for drawing, can fill several hours and add to the
general enjoyment that they experience when they visit the library.
Manga is, at present, on the cutting edge of literary provision
but not everyone is sure that it should be provided in libraries.
While it can be argued that not all manga has literary merit, the
same could be said about many of the books that are held in
libraries. Whilst some believe that not providing manga will make
young readers turn to more literary texts, the fact remains that
the demand for manga is definitely there. Ignoring this demand
increases the chance that many more teenagers will be turned
away from going to the library altogether. In fact, the search for a
manga title may be the first time that a teenager has set foot
inside a library since their parent or carer took them. It is only
once we have these young people physically coming into the
library that it becomes easier to identify with them and provide for
their needs, and that can only lead to good things.
Matthew Imrie is Teen Librarian at Edmonton Green Library, London Borough of Enfield.
Contact him (matthew.imrie@enfield.gov.uk) for ‘starter lists’ of recommended manga.
References
Brenner, R. (2008). ‘Boy meets boy and girl meets girl, otaku
style.’ Voice of Youth Advocates, 31 (3), 212-215.
Ho, J. (2007). ‘Gender alchemy: the transformative power of
manga.’ The Horn Book Magazine, 83 (5), 505-512.
Anime producers
MVM Entertainment www.mvm-films.com/
G Manga Entertainment www.manga.co.uk/
Some examples of good art books
G Draw Your Own Manga: All the Basics by
Haruno Nagatomo, Yuriko Tamaki, and
Francoise White. Kodansha International
Limited, 2003.
G Manga Clip Art: Everything You Need to
Create Your Own Professional-looking Manga
Artwork by Hayden Scott-Baron. ILEX, 2006.
G Manga (Draw) by Sweatdrop Studios. New
Holland Publishers, 2006.
G Manga Secrets: Over 50 Quick Lessons in
Drawing the World’s Most Popular Art Style
by Lea Hernandez. IMPACT Books, 2005.
G 500 Manga Creatures with CDRom by
Yishan Studios. Collins Design, 2008.
Art supplies
Letraset Manga Pens www.letraset.com/Manga/
G
Publishers
G Tokyopop www.tokyopop.com
G Viz Media www.vizeurope.com/
G Tanoshimi www.randomhouse.co.uk/Tanoshimi/
G Self Made Hero www.selfmadehero.com/
UK Manga Collectives
G Sweatdrop Studios www.sweatdrop.com/
G Umisen-Yamasen www.umisen-yamasen.com/
G
G
Recommended reading
Hokusai, First Manga Master by Jocelyn
Bouillard and Christophe Marquet. Harry N.
Abrams, 2007.
G Manga: Sixty Years of Japanese Comics by
Paul Gravett. Laurence King, 2004.
G Manga for Dummies by Kensuke
Okabayashi. John Wiley & Sons, 2007.
G Gothic and Lolita by Masayuki Yoshinaga
and Katsuhiko Ishikawa. Phaidon Press,
2007.
G Fruits by Shoichi Aoki. Phaidon Press, 2001.
G Fresh Fruits by Shoichi Aoki. Phaidon
Press, 2005.
G Japanese Schoolgirl Inferno by Patrick
Macias and Jay Tack. Chronicle Books, 2007.
G Tokyo Look Book: Stylish to Spectacular,
Goth to Gyaru, Sidewalk to Catwalk by
Philomena Keet and Yuri Manabe. Kodansha
Europe, 2007.
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